Safety lock for firearms



June 2, 1931- AfR. BRINKERHOFF v 1,807,727

y SAFETY Loox FOR FIREARus Filedv Feb. 12, 1930 v35 Figure 3 is a Patented `une 2, 1931 UNITED STATES ARCHIBALD R. BRINKERHFF, or Los ANGELES, CALIFORNIA SAFETY Loox FORFIREABMS Application led February 12,r 1930. Serial'No. 427,857.

My invention relates generally to autoloading firearms and has for its purpose the provision of extremely Simple means for locking the hammer of a firearm in cocked position during the loading operation so that a release of the hammer asa result of shocks to which the firearm is'subjected by the loading operation, will be prevented, thus obviating jamming as well as I0 unintentional discharging of the rearm, and all without the necessity ofv using a hard trigger pull. v

More specifically my invention functions automatically during the use of the firearm,

'15 by locking the sear .of the latter in cocking engagement with the hammer so long as the trigger is held in its rearmost position, and releasing the sear when the trigger is permitted to move forward to its normal 20 position for actuation to again discharge the firearm.

I will describe only one form of Safety lock for firearms embodying my invention and will then point out the novel features 25 thereofl in claims. y

In the accompanying drawing,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary sectional view of a conventional auto-loading firearm with one form of safetyV lock embodying my in- 90 vention, associated therewith;

-Figure 2 is a viewsimilarto Figure 1 and illustrating the 'safety lock functioningto lock the hammerv of the firearm'in cocked position, and,

fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1 and looking inthe direction of the arrows;

Referring specifically to the drawings in which similar reference characters de'- signate similar parts in each of the several views, my invention in its present embodif ment vis Shown associated with a conventional form of firearm in' which a hammer is pivoted at 11 vin the main frame 12 and is normally urged forwardly 'by a springV 13 to strike the firing pin 14.' A sear 15is pivoted at 16 in the main frame and 1s normally urged by a spring 17 into engagement with the hammer so as to enter a cocking vnotch 18 in the hammer when the latter is automatically cammed to cocked position in response to rearward movement of a recoil operated slide 19 mounted on themain frame and in which the firing pin 14C is mounted.

The sear 15 is adapted to be actuated to release the hammer and discharge the firearm, by means 0f ya trigger 20 slidably mounted in the main frame and urged forwardly to the normal position shown in Figure 1, by a spring 2l engaging a disconnector 22 slidable vertically in a slot 23 in the sear and in an opening 24 in the frame. disconnector is provided with lips 25 which normally engage the rear flat end of the trigger under lthe urging action of the spring 2l, and are disposed to engage and rock the sear about its pivot 16-sufficiently for the sear to release the hammer, during the initial rearward movement of the trigger from its normal forward position shown in Figure 1. The disconnector thus normally forms an operative connection between the trigger and sear to cause the latter to release the hammer and discharge the firearm when the trigger ispulled. 'Upon rearward movement of the slide 19 under the action of the recoil instantaneously following a discharge of the firearm, the disconnector22, which normally is maintained by theV spring 21 in the elevated position shown in Figure 1, So as to dispose its upper end in a' cavity 26 in the slide, is cammed The l downwardlyeby ythe slide to disengageits' Y lips 25 from the sear so that the sear is disconnected fromv the trigger duringy the remainder of the triggers rearward movement to its rearmost position shown in Figure 2, and is free to again enter the cooking notch 18 of the hammer upon camming of the latter to its cocked position bythe slide.

In firearms of thev construction and operation thus far described, which is typical ofv auto-loading rearms, reliance is placed solely on thesear spring 17 tomaintainthe Sear in cooking engagement with the notch 18 of the hammer. It has been found in practice, however, that the spring 17 is unreliable and that as a result of the shock to which the firearm is subjectedby the load-V f the sudden checking of the loading or return movement of the slide 19 indicated by the arrow A in Figure 2, the sear is some- 1 times jarred out oi engagement with the notch 18 so that the hammer is released prematurely and unintentionally, to am or again discharge the iirear-m. y

The safety lock provided by my invention comprises a movably mounted member M in the aresent instance illustrated as beine i during the latter part of the triggers rear ward movement to its rearmost position shewn in Figure 2. tends laterally as shown in Figure 3 is disposed to engage and bea-r against the sear l5.

i when the arm 28 is moved by the trigger dur-ing the latter part of the triggers rear@ ward movement to the position shown Figure 2, and to thus supplement the scar spring 1 7 and positively maintain the Sear in cockivv fr engagement with the notch 18 .of

the hammer so long the trigger is held in its rearmost position.

It will thus be cleary that after the hammer has been released to discharge the lirearm in response to the initial rearward movement of the trigger from its normal for-ward position shown in Figure 1, that during the remaining rearward movement` of the trigger the latter is automatically disconnected from the sear and the latter then positively prevented by the member M against releasing the hammer from its cocked position until the trigger is released and is returning to its normal forward position.

As it isa practical impossibility to release the trigger from its rearmost positiau during the loading operation instantaneously following a discharge of the iirea-rm, the member M will thus function automatically to positively lock the sear against releasing the, hammer from its cocked position, there* by obviating the jamming or repeated discharging of the firearm uninteirtionally.`

By the provision of my invention, the use of a heavy trigger pull in order to prevent premature release oi the hammer by shocks incident to the loading operation, rendered unnecessary, which is a decided advantage to the shooter, as a moderately light trigger pull is practically essential accurate shooting. Y

Although I have herein shown and de scribed only one form of safety lock for firearms embQdying my invention, it is to be The arm 29, which ezey understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an auto-loading firearm having a hammer, a sear, and a trigger for releasing the sear from the hammer to discharge the firearm, means for disconnecting the trigger from the sear upon discharge of the iirearm so that the sear is tree for engagement with the hammer, means for automatically cockn ing the hammer during the loading operation,r and means so controlled by the trigger as to prevent the release of the hammer from cocked position as a result oft shocks to which the firearm is subjected by the loading oper-ation.

2.v In an auto,-loading firearm having a hammer, `a sear, and a trigger for releasing the sear from the hammer to discharge the firearm, means for disconnecting the trigger from the sear upon discharge of the firearm so that the Sear is free for `engagement with the hammer, means for automatically cocking the hammer dur-ing the loading operL tion, and automatic means for positively lockingthe hammer in cocked position so long as the trigger is 'held depressed.

3. In an auto-loading rearm having a if' hammer, a sear, and a trigger for releasing the sear from the hammer to discharge the firearm,A means for disconnecting the trigger from the sea-r` upon discharge of the rearm se that the searis free forengagement with the hammer, means for automatically cocking the hammer during the loading operation, and meansoperable by the trigger so lori-g the latter is vheld against returning to its normal position, to lock the hammer in cocked position.I

4, In an auto-loading firearm having u hammer and releasing mechanism therefor including a scary and a trigger for actuating the sear, means for disconnecting the 'triggerfrom the sear upon discharge of the iirearm as `toperinit the sear to again engage the hammer, means for automatically moving the hammer to cocked-position during the loading operati-on for cooking of the hammer by the scar, and automatic means for positively maintaining the Sear in cooking engagement with the hammer so long as the trigger is held against returning toits normal position.

5. In an auto-loading firearm having a hammer and releasing mechanism therefor including a sear and a trigger for actuating the seal',l means for disconnecting the trigger from the sear upon discharge of the firearm, e

so as` to permit the Sear to again engage the hammer, means for .automatically moving .the hammer to cocked position during the loading operation for cock-ing oi the hammer by the Seal, and means cO-Sacting With 'les asomar' the trigger during the latter part of the triggers movement to its rearmost position, to positively maintain the sear in cocking engagement with the hammer.

6. In an auto-loading firearm having a hammer and releasingmechanism therefor including a sear and a trigger for actuating the sear, means for disconnecting the trigger from the sear upon discharge of the firearm so as to permit the sear to again engage the hammer, means for automatically moving the hammer to cocked position during the loading operation for cooking of the hammer by the sear, and means operable by the trigger so long as the latter is held in its rearmost position, to positively maintain the sear in cooking engagement with the hammer.

7. In an auto-loading rearm having a hammer, and releasing mechanism therefor including a sear and a trigger for actuating the sear, means for disconnecting the trigger from the sear upon discharge of the firearm so as to permit the sear to again engage the hammer, means Jfor automatically moving the hammer to cocked position during the loading operation for cocking of the hammer by the sear, and means movable by the trigger into such engagement with the sear, as to maintain the sear in cooking engagement with the hammer so long as the trigger is held against returning to its normal position.

8. In an auto-loading firearm having a hammer and releasing mechanism therefor including a sear and a trigger 'or actuating the searmeans for disconnecting the trigger from the sear upon discharge of the firearm, so as to permit the sear to again engage the hammer, means for automatically moving the hammer to cocked position during the loading operation for cooking of the hammer by the sear, and a movably mounted member having portions, one of which is responsive to rearward movement of the 'trigger to move the other into engagement with the sear and positively maintain the latter in cooking engagement with Y the hammer so long as the trigger is held in its rearmost position.

9. In an auto-loading rearm havingV a hammer and releasing mechanism therefor including a sear and a trigger .for actuating the sea-r, means :tor disconnecting the trigger from the sear upon discharge of the firearm so as to permit the sear to again engage the hammer, means for automatically moving the hammer to cocked position during the loading operationl for eockingof the hammer by the sear, and a pivotally mounted -member having arms, one ofwhich is responsive -to rearward movement of the trigger to move the other into engagement with the sear and positively maintain the latter in cooking engagement with the hammer so long as the trigger is held in its rearmost position.

l0. A safety lock for auto-loading lirearms comprising a movably mounted member having a pair of portions, one of which is responsive to rearward movement of the trigger of the `firearm to move the other into engagement with the sear of the firearm and positively maintain the sear in cooking engagement with the hammer of the firearm so long asthe trigger is held in its rearmost position.

1l. A safety lock for auto-loading rearms comprising a member having two portions, and means for vmounting the member for such movement as to render one of saidv portions responsive to rearward movement of the iirearms trigger, to move the other of said portions into engagement with the irearms sear and positively maintain the sear in cooking engagement with the hammer of the firearm so long as the trigger is heldin its rearmost position.

l2. A firearm having a hammer, a sear, and a trigger for releasing the sear from the hammer, and trigger controlled means co-acting with the sear to lock the hammer in cocked position so long as the trigger is held depressed.

13. Fire control mechanism for firearms comprising a hammer, a sear, and a trigger for releasing the sear from the hammer, a

-member having portions, and means for mounting the member in a position for one of said portions to respond to rearward movement of the trigger, to move the other portion into such engagement with the sear as to maintain the latter in'cocking engagement with the hammer so long as the trigger is held depressed.

ARCHIBALD R. BRINKERHOFF.

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